The phrase “legendary children” has been heard everywhere from the ballroom scene all the way up through RuPaul’s Drag Race, but up until now, we never had taken it so….literally?
Lexi Shapiro is not just an eye popping portrait photographer, she also runs her own luxury children’s portrait studio, POSE PGH. The Pittsburgh based photographer works to photograph children in a distinctive and unique way, with, as her website puts it, “an editorial stylishness and a heavy emphasis on capturing their authentic spirit in their portraits”. With that in mind, she has curated her own series of photographs titled (what else) Our Legendary Children.
She goes on to say that she has “found my true passion and calling in working with children. I’m also a huge ally of the LGBTQ+ community and an outspoken advocate. Creating this series gave me the opportunity to merge my life’s passion with a passion project and to create something that I am so incredibly proud of..”
Shapiro clearly has a sharp and focused eye for detail and Drag Race herstory, and has taken some of the most familiar aspects and iconic characteristics of our favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race queens and crafted them around some of the most adorable and precocious children to have been put in front of a camera.
The ages and looks of each of the children vary, giving the entire series a very broad appeal. While you may have adorable little girls giving their best “Halelloo” as Shangela, you may have another much smaller child simply garbed in a black frock, a crown, and sunglasses, suddenly transforming before our eyes into Sasha Velour.
From Monet X Change’s sponge dress to one of Trixie Mattel’s madcap looks from RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Shapiro manages to morph her subjects into iconic looks that many fans will immediately recognize courtesy of her stunning photographs. The series would not be complete without a shot of another future world-changer garbed as RuPaul himself, complete with a replication of one of his signature http://www.kleinepsteinparker.com/ suits.
Shapiro’s comments on Our Legendary Children sums up the entire photography series perfectly: The drag community and ballroom scene have their own vernacular. A “legendary child” is an up-and-coming queen, one that the community sees a great deal of potential in and supports in their growth. I believe that, in this regard, all of our children are “legendary children,” and it is our responsibility as a society to treat them as such. In the spirit of this, Our Legendary Children is a series of portraits of children dressed in adorable, miniaturized recreations of iconic and recognizable looks from the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race. It is celebration of love, both self-love and love of others, in its purest, most adorable form.
Photography + Art Direction: Lexi Shapiro/POSE PGH
Wardrobe: Suz Pisano/Sparkle Studio
Makeup: Karma Lama
Wigs: Bebe Beretta Hair Styling + Additional Wig Styling: Tori Bivins
Assistant: Lisa Seligman
To read about the series and see behind-the-scenes content, click here, henny!